'A soldier's soldier'

Thursday

Aug 7, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Kendall HatchDaily News Staff

NATICK - The killing of an American general in an attack in Afghanistan on Tuesday hit hard this week at the Natick Soldier Systems Center, where he served as senior commander for two years.Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, 55, was killed when a gunman dressed as an Afghan soldier opened fire on allied troops. Greene was on his first deployment to a war zone, helping to prepare Afghan troops for the departure of U.S.-coalition forces.Greene, an engineer, spent two years as the senior commander at Natick Labs, serving from 2009-2011.Officials at Natick Labs Wednesday said they were devastated to hear the news. They described Greene as an accessible, affable and intelligent leader who put a premium on soldier safety, collaboration and community partnerships during his time there.John Harlow, chief of public affairs at Natick Soldier Systems, said the mood around the installation Tuesday and Wednesday was somber, as workers learned of Greene’s death.Harlow said Greene was "a soldier's soldier, a class act."Standing outside the headquarters building at Natick Labs Wednesday, Harlow said that Greene had a sense of humility and was never one to let rank go to his head or let it get in the way of collaboration or friendship.“It’s wasn’t like he’s up here as a general and you’re down here as a worker. He worked with us,” said Harlow. “He said 'hi' to everybody. He knew your name. He made it a point to know everyone he possibly could here. He believed in the mission of this place.”Greene was stationed at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland and served as deputy commanding general of the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command during the same period he served as senior commander of Natick Labs. Although he wasn’t in Massachusetts all the time, his devotion to the mission of Natick Labs and his involvement in the community wasn’t diminished by distance, Harlow said.Harlow also credited Greene with pushing for the Army to have a general officer in New England, which happened after Green’s departure.“Gen. Greene made sure that we had everything we could here on this installation so the researchers, the scientists, could do everything they could to take care of the soldier.” Harlow said.“Everybody has a Gen. Greene story and that’s one of the reasons everybody is so sad here today,” Harlow said. “Every loss of a soldier hurts because we’re an Army family. This one hurts more because Gen. Greene actually made himself a part of every individual’s family just by the way he was.”Brian Wood, executive assistant to the associate director for operations and outreach at Natick Labs, served as Greene’s executive officer for two years. He called Greene a mentor.“It was a great loss,” Wood said. “It was a great loss to the nation, to the Army, to the community and certainly to his family.”Wood said Greene was easy to work with – “the kind of guy that you’d want to come into work every day and you’d be surprised when it was 5 o’clock,” and that he could relate to people at all levels.“My office was across the hall from his and I could hear him coming in every day because he would say ‘hi’ to every single person on the way in,” Wood said.Natick officials also said they were sorry to hear about Greene’s death, saying that he always made efforts to engage the community outside the secure gates of Natick Labs.“He really did a great job at personifying Natick Soldier Systems in the community,” said Paul Joseph, chairman of the town’s Economic Development Committee and a former selectman. “He characterized the strength you want to see in a commander, but he also had that everyday, nice guy appeal.” Selectmen Chairman Josh Ostroff told the Associated Press that Greene “initiated a great partnership and collaboration with the town.“He was instrumental in kicking off a redesign of the facility to make it more of a modern campus and was very agreeable to working with the community on areas of public safety, public works and economic development.”Greene was the highest-ranking officer killed in combat since the Vietnam War. About 15 other allied troops were injured in the attack, including a German general and two Afghan generals. Greene leaves behind a wife and two children.Harlow said officials at Natick Labs are considering an official remembrance to memorialize the general.“There are a lot of people in Natick who lost a friend, and if you think about Army life and the way it is, not a lot of people think of generals as their friend,” Harlow said. “Gen. Greene was a friend to a lot of people.”(Associated Press material was used in this report. Kendall Hatch can be reached at 508-490-7453 or khatch@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kendall_HatchMW)

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